Had one arrived at that moment without any knowledge of what had happened, one might have thought someone had tried to create a pyramid of the chairs and failed.
This is what many in the world media reported as a "riot," having gone so far as to say the fans were "rampaging through Stuttgart." The American media displayed particular gall when reporting that "thousands of German and English fans...are currently rioting in the city." This, in light of the fact that any riot taking place for any reason in any American city, comparable to or even smaller than the approximately three million of the Stuttgart area, would have involved shots being fired from both civilians and law enforcement, significant injury from fist, knife, and gun, destruction of buildings and cars, and death.
For the record, there were not "thousands" of people causing the trouble; there were hundreds.
Let us never mind that no "riot" on record has ever been quelled with little more than arrests for drunkenness and a mess of pepper spray in a few hours' time. A little perspective, please. Riots aren't over in less than the better part of a day. Riots involve rubber bullets, real bullets, packed emergency rooms, and arrests for assault, arson, and homicide.
The incident in Stuttgart was a heated exchange of words, over-dramatized by those who weren't even there. At most, it was a brawl between two rivals — rivals known to, prepared for, and taken care of in a professional and timely manner.
My host nation's generous accommodations and fast-acting, well-prepared law enforcement needn't be slandered and dragged through the mud to sell newspapers and attract viewers. The very least the world reporters could have done was to have been there before doing that.
Ich Liebe Stuttgart!
Article comments
1 - Silvio
Learning German: Your article would probably described as "Die Kirche im Dorf lassen." :-)
Cheers, Silvio